Bacteria

by Eric Chaet

Bacteria have a big advantage
they have no nucleus
not a thought in their head
pure instinct
getting grub & avoiding dying
or so it appears here at world headquarters—
maybe this or that one is different from the others
maybe they’re all different from one another—
I’m working from images
produced by people with excellent cameras & microscopes
spies, as it were—
during tough times
or where easily ingested nutrients occur
they’ll drift into colonial tribes
& adapt to one another’s proximity—
otherwise it’s every cell for itself
& when they’re fit & satisfied
they grow & become two—
similar but not exactly the same
as packages of salty or sweet snacks
bottles & cans of beer or carbonated drinks
legislation, dollars, ball games—
& I expect you know people like that
some sicken & die, some prosper
without much on their mind
& take those concerned
with, say, past & on-going injustices
or the well-being of humanity, maybe
(I don’t mean the virulent strain of hypocrites)—
as in-sane, un-fit, confused
& they eat or swim around them
& try to attach themselves
to the most likely source of nutrients
so as to attract the least attention
of predators out trying to make a living
or patrolling macrophages.